Pokémon Shadows
by J.A.Phillips
Summary: In the distant Rainya Region, an ancient curse creates the Twilit Pokémon. Join Ethan, Riana, Lewis, and Miley as they seek to put an end to this curse, and the ones spreading it. Rated for swearing, language, nudity, and possible future lime.
1. Ch 01: Wazawai! Terbite City Falls!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon. Duh. I do, however, claim ownership over the main human protagonists, but not the antagonists.

WARNING: The following contains scenes of violence, and coarse language. Reader discretion is advised.

Chapter 01: Wazawai! Terbite City Falls!

_ God bless P.H.C.s,_ Ethan thought to himself as he ran out to the battlefield.

P.H.C.s, or Pokémon Holographic Coliseums, could be found regularly throughout the Rainya Region, as there were few 'real' Trainers due to the lack of Wild Pokémon. Plus, they were great experience for young, beginning Trainers.

Take Ethan Dolan, a 15-year-old boy with scarlet red hair and blue eyes, wore a dark blue vest over a black long-sleeved shirt, black jeans, and red boots and pouch that matched his hair. Ethan had always wanted to be a Trainer, like his older brother before him. Unfortunately, Ethan had the misfortune of living in a place with few Pokémon to catch and train. With P.H.C.s, he could learn all about Pokémon while he bided his time.

He had to admit to himself that this day's event had a great turnout. Dozens, if not hundreds, of people had packed Terbite City's Pokémon Holographic Coliseum, and this was one battle they'd most wanted to see.

On the other side of the field was a boy a few years younger than Ethan. He wore a yellow ball cap with matching and shorts and shoes, a grey t-shirt, and his face was full of brashness.

Too cocky, Ethan surmised as the holographic emitters activated, creating three Poké Balls on each of their belts, and a digitized field to resemble a larger, grander coliseum. The crowd roared as the two boys selected and grabbed their Balls, signalling the start of the bout. The boy on the far side of the battlefield gripped the Ball hard and threw it forward, yelling, "Jeremy calls Magmortar!"

"Glaceon, let's go!" Ethan cried.

The two Poké Balls opened up and released holographic Pokémon, a Magmortar for Jeremy, and a Glaceon for Ethan. Ethan grinned, knowing that Jeremy would think himself at an advantage, what with it being Fire-vs-Ice. Fortunately, Ethan knew better than to rely solely on types.

Jeremy sniggered. "This'll be easy. Fire Blast!"

Magmortar launched a huge five-pronged blast of flames from his arm cannon, creating a loud "Ooooh!" from the crowd. But Ethan guessed that would be Jeremy's opening attack, and was well prepared.

"Glaceon, Hail!" he commanded.

At that moment, Glaceon exhausted an icy blue aura from his body that spread into the air, creating a flurry of swirling hail. With the Fire Blast fast approaching, Glaceon leapt into the hailstorm, dodging the attack easily.

Jeremy gritted his teeth. "After him, Magmortar! Fire Punch!"

Ethan shook his head. "Bad idea, buddy. Ice Beam!"

Magmortar jumped into the hailstorm, fist blazing. Sure enough, a blistering Ice Beam knocked the Fire type out of the hailstorm. Magmortar's fist was completely frozen in a block of ice!

Ethan scratched his head. "Told ya. Glaceon's Snow Cloak ability makes him ultra evasive in the winter storms created by Hail. Trying to catch him in there is like trying to catch a chicken running around like its head's been cut off."

"Cocky S.O.B…" Jeremy growled. "Evade THIS! Flamethrower!"

Magmortar breathed in deep, his chest expanding. Ethan's eyes widened, as he immediately knew Jeremy's plan: He was going to have his Pokémon launch an inferno so big and so raging that it would envelope Hail. There'd be nowhere for Glaceon to run to!

"Dammit, reflect with Mirror Coat!" Ethan called.

"FIRE!!"

The actions were simultaneous. As Magmortar launched the Flamethrower, a violet energy pulsed inside Hail. The flames swept Hail away completely, but Glaceon, though singed, was safe. The violet aura surrounding him launched towards Magmortar, resembling the Flamethrower at twice the intensity. Magmortar never stood a chance as he was quickly K.O.'ed.

Jeremy grumbled as he recalled Magmortar and held out a new Poké Ball. "Lucky jerk! Let's see you beat Metang!"

SKREE! SKREE! SKREE!

The taunting came to a halt as a loud screeching sound came from outside. The crowd, half panicked, emptied out as the holograms shut off. Jeremy ran out as fast as he could, while Ethan looked around in bewilderment.

_That's the town alarm!_ Ethan realised. _What the fuck is going on out there?!_

Ethan immediately ran out the doors of the Coliseum and stood in horrified awe of what he saw: In the sky, half a dozen large blimps circled the city. A tall building in the distance was on fire, with smoke pouring into the sky. People were running in the streets in terror. But what scared Ethan the most was what chased the townspeople.

They looked like Electrike, and yet they looked…wrong, somehow. Their fur, usually green and yellow, was now a murky purple and bloody red. Their eyes shimmered a golden light, and their fangs, now larger, seemed to dribble out a liquid similar somehow to…

…_Blood…!_ Ethan realised.

Terrified, Ethan tried to run away, but tripped over a fallen garbage can. Scrambling to try to get up, he heard a voice shout at him.

"You! Halt!"

Ethan looked up at a nearby rooftop. Standing there was a lean, evil looking woman in a skin-tight black and grey jumpsuit and dark violet hair shaped almost like Medicham's head.

"Oh what?" she asked in mock concern. "Did the little man hurt himself running for his life? Wanna run some more, little man?"

The woman then pulled out an odd looking Poké Ball, apparently made from stained glass. She balanced it easily on her index finger as it spun seemingly of its own control.

"Nibble on his sweet flesh, dear Steelix." She said calmly.

The Ball burst open and unleashed a Steelix. It, like the Electrike, was different from the norm. While the average Steelix was a sort of silver-grey, this one was ebony black. Its teeth and hide were far more jagged and monstrous looking, and its eyes glowed crimson red.

The sight of this almost demonic-looking Steelix was enough to make Ethan jump to his feet and run for his life out of town. The Steelix, seemingly in no real hurry to catch him, slithered slowly after him as its master laughed evilly…


	2. Ch 02: Nani Desu Ka? Twilit Visions!

Notes From The Author: Hey, this is J.A. Phillips. Just wanna take a minute to give a quick shout out to everybody that reads and reviews this story. Any attention is good attention, really.  
Oh, and about the villain from the previous chapter. While some readers might recognize her, I ask that you not give it away. Also, if you've noticed the obvious changes to her personality, I'll let you in on something: Something very wrong has happened to her, and to her Pokémon. 'Nuff said. Enjoy!

* * *

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon. Duh. I do, however, claim ownership over the main human protagonists, but not the antagonists.

WARNING: The following contains scenes of violence, and coarse language. Reader discretion is advised.

Chapter 02: Nani Desu Ka? Twilit Visions!

Ethan panted hard as he ran into the nearby woods, the ebony black Steelix right behind him. Upon seeing the Emerald Forest that separated Terbite City, Tugtup Town, and Augite City, Ethan knew that Steelix would have trouble navigating his giant serpentine body through the narrow passages between the trees.

**THWOOMP! THWOOMP! THWOOMP!**

_Or he could just plow right THROUGH 'em!_ Ethan realised as the now 'onyx' coloured Steelix smashed effortlessly through the trees.

Running fast as he could through the trees, Ethan barely noticed a trench-like ditch ahead of him to the left. Quickly rolling to his left, Ethan fell into the ditch and ducked down, listening as Steelix continued to blast along past. Waiting awhile, making sure that he was a safe enough distance behind the Iron Snake Pokémon, Ethan sighed and got back to his feet.

_What the fuck is going on?_ he wondered. _That Steelix, and those Electrike. They looked like Pokémon, but they acted more like…monsters._

Ethan wiped his forehead, feeling the condensation upon it, but soon found himself glaring at his hand. He thought he'd been sweating from all of the running he'd been doing, but it seemed he'd cut himself on a branch or something, because now his hand had blood all over it. Looking around, he saw a small pool of water nearby and walked over to it, examining his reflection in the water's surface.

_Ugh, better cover that…_he surmised, tearing a strip of fabric from his black sleeve. He then proceeded to wrap it tightly around his forehead, covering the bloody cut. Looking the rest of himself over, he was satisfied to find parts of his clothes a little scrapped up, but that otherwise he was OK.

"Better get outta here before that thing comes back around…" he whispered to himself.

And he was about to do just that, until he heard a small bubbling. Looking down, Ethan was startled to see a strange blue ball of light rise from the water's surface. It hovered around the scarlet haired teen's head, creating a sort of mist in its trail.

"What the-"

GRRRAAAAOOOOORRRR!!

Ethan spun around and nearly pissed himself at what he saw: The Steelix had now doubled around and was making a beeline towards him at top speed. Ethan turned and ran as fast as he could from the Steel/Ground type Pokémon, the blue light following after him.

_What, am I just attracting all kinds of weird-ass shit today?! _he wondered as he dashed through the trees.

Looking back for a second, Ethan watched as the Steelix's mouth opened wide, flames appearing in his jaws. Ethan just barely managed to duck and roll as a stream of red-hot fire blasted past, knocking over and igniting a tree.

_Flamethrower?!_ he guessed. _But how? Steelix can't learn that attack!_

Turning back to face the Iron Snake Pokémon, Ethan was shocked to find it had vanished from his sight. Naturally, he was amazed that something that large could simply disappear into thin air.

Suddenly, the ball of misty blue light that had been following around the red head for the past minute hovered over to the fallen tree. Shaking up and down over the burning wood, it created a sort of jingling sound, and Ethan could only watch in awe as two more spheres emerged. One was red and had entrails of small, flickering embers. The other was green, and in its trail was a glowing light similar to sunlight peering through treetops. All three seemed to float around Ethan in the form of a rotating triangle.

Just as Ethan was starting to enjoy the view for the first time all day, though, a low rumble through the ground shook him out of his state. Suddenly realising what that likely meant, Ethan started to run, but was knocked off his feet and sent tumbling as the black Steelix blasted up through the earth.

_Ugh, he's just been playing cat and mouse with me this whole time!_ Ethan realised as he struggled to get up.

The Steelix then started to coil up, its teeth bared. Ethan looked closer in horror. The teeth were now exhausting the same blood-like ooze that the Electrike had been. Ethan knew this could only mean one thing: The Steelix was hungry, and was now going to have his dinner. It uncoiled and lunged at Ethan, who could only hold his arms in front of himself and await the end by way of those huge, jagged teeth.

…But, to Ethan's astonishment, the end never came. Bringing his arms down, he saw the Steelix seemingly frozen in place by what appeared to be a long, spectral chain. The chain was made of red, blue, and green links that seemed to burn it, contain it, and sap away its energy all at once. In fact, Ethan couldn't really tell if Steelix was still conscious or not.

But what surprised Ethan the most was that, standing before him where the three balls of light once hovered, were three small Pokémon, staring cutely at him. Ethan looked them over, noting that they, too, seemed different from other Pokémon somehow.

One was the Big Jaw Pokémon, Totodile. The small Water type was completely covered in a sapphire-like colour, even in his eyes and mouth. He was laughing at how dumbfounded Ethan looked; something Ethan wasn't too sure was all that funny.

Standing next to Totodile was the Fire Mouse Pokémon, Cyndaquil. While usually a blue and yellow furred Pokémon with flames bursting from his back, this one was pure ruby coloured Pokémon. He seemed to smile in a friendly manner to Ethan.

The last one was the Leaf Pokémon, Chikorita, who seemed to be entirely coated in an emerald-like colour. The Grass type seemed to be ignoring the immature antics of her blue friend, apparently not amused.

_Red, blue, and green?_ Ethan wondered. _Did they come from the light?_

As if on cue, the three Pokémon nodded. Ethan was amazed, as it seemed that these three could somehow read his mind. He stood up, no longer in fear of the Steelix, as it was now immobilized.

"Are you…are you like him?" he asked, and his response was a slow nod from Cyndaquil, a quick shake 'no' from Chikorita, and a shrug from Totodile. Ethan could only sweatdrop.

"…Oooookaaay, does that mean 'sort of'?" he asked, receiving a nod from all three. "Well, what do you want from me?"

Suddenly, Cyndaquil jumped up and tapped Ethan's pouch. Cocking an eyebrow, Ethan unzippered it. Pulling out various objects inside, he received shakes 'no' for all of them, until he held out a Poké Ball that had a golden cross emblazoned on its red half. The trio nodded and cried happily as he came to this.

Oh, how Ethan knew this item well. When his older brother left him with the local foster home so he could go on a Pokémon journey, he left this Ball for him, telling him it'd mark that start of his own journey someday. Unfortunately, Ethan had earned the mocking of several of his neighbours the day he'd fished out a Poliwag and tried to catch it in the Ball. Instead, the Ball had merely bounced off the Poliwag's head, who then Doubleslapped it into Ethan's face.

Ethan winced, remembering how he'd needed stitches after that incident. Meanwhile, the trio continued to nod, cheer, and point at the Ball. Ethan looked up at their reactions, then to the Ball, then back to them.

"Wait…do you want me to catch one of you?" he asked, to which they nodded emphatically. "But this is just a piece of crap. It won't work."

The trio then proceeded to jump up onto Ethan's head and shoulders, bouncing up and down on him Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, the Steelix was getting angrier and starting to break free of the chain-like bonds.

"OK, alright, _**OK**_!" Ethan shouted. "I'll give it a try, but I can't promise anything!"

The three Pokémon cheered and jumped off the bewildered red head. Ethan then held out the Poké Ball, looking over his three respective choices. All three seemed to cheer him on as his eyes drifted from to the other.

"Hmmm…I guess I'll go with you, Cyndaquil." he said. "My brother was always Fire type crazy, so I suppose I'll choose one to start off with, too."

The Cyndaquil stood up on his hind legs, clapping happily and bouncing in joy. Ethan let loose a small grin, which was dampened by the day's horrific and baffling events. Gripping his Ball hard, he reeled his arm back.

"OK, Poké Ball GO!" he called, throwing the Ball.

The Ball bounced off of Cyndaquil's head and, as the golden cross symbol shimmered brightly, the Ball opened and ensnared the Pokémon in a flash of crimson light. The Poké Ball wobbled around a little before lying still.

"Booya!" Ethan shouted, grabbing the Ball. "I caught Cynda-"

G-G-GRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

Ethan barely had time to jump and duck as the Steelix's jaw came down on where he once stood, chewing out a piece of the earth. He wiped a bead of sweat from his head as Steelix spat out a mass of dirt and who-knows-what. Ethan reached down and grabbed the Poké Ball, taking a step away from the Iron Snake Pokémon.

_Damn, guess catching Cyndaquil weakened that chain thingy._ Ethan surmised.

Steelix looked to Ethan, growling fiercely. Ethan guessed that the demonic looking Pokémon was tired of playing with his food. Suddenly, he could feel the Poké Ball in his hand heat up. Looking up, Ethan saw Totodile and Chikorita sitting in a tree, nodding to him.

"…Right." he said, standing tall. "No more running! Cyndaquil, let's kick this thing's ass!"

Ethan tossed the Ball, and from it burst his newly caught Cyndaquil. However, the small Fire type was no longer sporting his all ruby look, but now his natural blue and yellow fur.

"Wait, why-" Ethan wondered aloud. "…Oh, fuck it. At least something's normal today."

Steelix immediately dived in for a Crunch, but the Fire Mouse Pokémon was far too fast, dodging the attack easily. Ethan's eyes narrowed as he thought over Cyndaquil's attacks, feeling the need to take command of the battle.

"Cyndaquil, use Flame Wheel!" he ordered.

The little Fire type landed on a tree and ignited the flames on his back. Rolling himself into a ball, he essentially became a wheel of fire that charged Steelix.

BAAAMM!

Steelix was hit so hard by Flame Wheel that it was knocked into the trees behind it, which then collapsed on the Steel/Ground type serpent. Ethan surveyed the damage, but Steelix didn't stay down for long. It quickly shook itself free and glared menacingly at Cyndaquil.

"Cyndaquil, we need a more powerful attack!" Ethan cried.

Cyndaquil nodded to Ethan. Suddenly, the little mouse started to glow a dim blue, and the Ethan could hear an odd ticking sound in the air. The young Trainer's eyes widened in realization.

"Isn't this…Metronome?" Ethan wondered aloud.

The Steelix, apparently aware of this plot, lowered its head and coiled up. Ethan knew that the Iron Snake Pokémon was preparing the ultimate, drop-dead fugly stepmother of all Skull Bashes.

"It's getting ready to attack!" Ethan yelled. "Cyndaquil, hurry!"

Cyndaquil's aura quickly changed, now becoming a bright orange that was seemingly brightest around his paws. The pitch black Steelix lunged skull first at full speed, but Cyndaquil, moving at practically mach speed, leaped up and met it in midair.

_**SWIIIPE!!**_

Cyndaquil landed with ease behind Steelix, who was seemingly frozen in place. Guillotine had hit its mark dead on, as a large claw mark was left across Steelix's side, glowing bright red. Suddenly, Steelix's entire body seemed to change, looking more like a giant figurine made of…

"Stained…glass?" Ethan asked. "Wh-…is this even a real Pokémon?!"

CRACKLE!!

The now stained glass Steelix cracked where the claw mark had been, and proceeded to shatter into pieces that flew all about. Ethan raised his arms up to protect his face, but was swiped across the torso by the sharp debris. He swaggered badly as he felt the pain team up with the exhaustion created by the day's events and overtake him. He tipped forward as gravity took its course, and Ethan, dazed and confused, thought he felt an arm reach out and grab him before he whited out…

* * *

Notes From The Author: At this juncture, I'd like to note that these transfigured Pokémon, or Twilit Pokémon as I'm calling them, are different from ordinary Pokémon, as will be explained in the next chapter. For now, you can know that they possess altered stats, and can learn attacks that their original counterparts cannot. I hope that clears up why they were using attacks and abilities that they normally could not (I.E.: Steelix using Flamethrower).


	3. Ch03:Kaisetsu! Stained Secrets Revealed!

Notes From The Author: Hey-Yo! Just thought I'd take a moment to thank all of the readers, encourage you all to review my story, and oh, important thing to note...  
THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER CONTAINS A SCENE OF MALE NUDITY! CONSIDER YOURSELVES WARNED!  
...Anyways, enjoy this chapter!

* * *

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon. Duh. I do, however, claim ownership over the main human protagonists, but not the antagonists.

WARNING: The following contains scenes of violence, coarse language, and nudity. Reader discretion is advised.

Chapter 03: Kaisetsu! Stained Secrets Revealed!

Ethan's eyes fluttered open as he looked around. He was literally standing in the middle of nowhere and nothing. It was as if he'd been sucked into one huge void, and all there was in it was black.

"…So, what happened?"

Ethan spun around. Standing behind him was a near mirror image of himself, only a little taller and looking a bit more confident in his eyes. Ethan knew this person only too well.

"Marco?" he asked. "What are you-"

"What, like I can't check up on my little bro every now and then?" Ethan's older brother wondered aloud. "…So, tell me what happened."

Ethan's shoulders slumped as he looked down in shame. "I…Something bad happened. Someone attacked the city, and I…I couldn't protect the people. I ran away, like a coward."

Marco shook his head. "And now you're solving the problem by beating yourself up. Real constructive."

Ethan clenched his fists. "I know, but…but what the hell am I supposed to do about it?! What is it you want from me, anyways?!"

Marco chuckled, walking over to Ethan. "Your best. That's all I've ever expected of you. You can make changes to this world, I feel it. That's why I left the Ball to you."

"…So what do I do now?" Ethan asked as Marco stepped before him.

Marco smiled, reaching a hand to Ethan's forehead. "First thing's first, little bro. Before you do ANYTHING, you need to wake up."

"Huh?"

**_FLASH!_**

_**

* * *

  
**_Ethan sat up with a jolt, panting hard. He felt a small wave of pain flow through his body before deciding to lie back down again. It wasn't until he did so that he realised he was in an unfamiliar yet comfortably fluffy brown and green bed. He looked out a nearby window to see a small, snowy town surrounded the house he was in.

"…Uhhnn, where am I?" he asked seemingly no one.

"Sno?"

Ethan looked to his left to a nearby door and nearly jolted at what he saw. Standing in the doorway leading to the room he was currently occupying was a small green and white Pokémon, which Ethan immediately recognized as a Snover. The Frosted Tree Pokémon was carrying a silver tray with waffles and orange juice on it.

"A…a Snover?" Ethan wondered out loud. "Did you bring me here?"

Snover didn't do much in the way of replying, chirping happily as he brought the tray over and sat it on an end table next to Ethan. He then turned around, walked to the doorway, and called down the hall.

"What's that?" Ethan heard a voice call back. "He's awake?"

Ethan watched on as two figures entered the room. One was an elderly woman, dressed in blue and violet thick robes with a long white lab coat overtop. The other was young girl close to Ethan's age with blonde hair with pink streaks running through it. She wore dark green jeans and a matching long sleeved shirt, with a yellow vest overtop, and light green snow boots.

"Oh good!" the older woman said warmly. "You're awake! We were beginning to worry you'd be out for the rest of the week!"

Ethan eyed the lady carefully as recognition hit. "Wait, I remember you. You're Professor Pine!"

The Professor smiled. "Correct, young Ethan. I AM Professor Irene Pine. And this is my granddaughter and assistant, Riana."

Riana nodded to Ethan. "Glad to see that you've made a recovery, Ethan Dolan."

The elder Pine rolled her eyes. "I see that you recognized my face. You've grown quite a bit since we first met."

Ethan nodded. "Yeah, back when you gave my brother his first Poké-…Oh, Cyndaquil! Where's Cyndaquil?!"

Prof. Pine glanced over to a dresser nearby, where Cyndaquil's Ball sat. "After we found you, Riana here thought it best to put your Pokémon back in its Ball."

Ethan sighed in relief. "Oh, OK. I'll just take it back then…"

Ethan tossed the covers back and got up, but stopped when Riana cried out loudly and covered her blushing face. Confused at first, Ethan quickly understood when he looked down and saw, to his absolute horror, that we was completely stark naked. He yelped and grabbed a sheet, covering himself.

"CLOTHES!!" he screamed. "WHERE ARE MY CLOTHES?!"

"Th-they're in the closet!" the Professor cried, pointing to a nearby set of closet doors.

Ethan nodded and moved to the closet. Unfortunately, he had forgotten about the sheet trailing underneath him, stepping on it and losing his balance. Then, as if by some cosmic prank, he fell into Riana, knocking them both over. He groaned as he tried to get back up, only to find himself again totally nude and inadvertently 'mounting' Riana.

"AHHHHHHH!!" the poor girl screamed. "GET OFF, YOU PERVERTED IDIOT!!"

* * *

"Again, I'm very sorry." Professor Pine apologized, rubbing her temples. "I had to check your wounds, though. You were cut up a little by that Twilit Pokémon's explosion."

"Yeah, but you could've at least warned me before I flashed your granddaughter." Ethan replied as he zipped up his vest, earning another blushing glance from Riana.

A few minutes had passed by. The group was now gathered in the living room, now that Ethan had regained his clothes and Riana had regained her composure. Outside, Cyndaquil and Snover were playing in a small pile of snow.

Riana sighed. "Alright, we said that we'd explain the current situation, and we will. You're in Tugtup Town, on the northern-most side of the Emerald Forest. It's also the site of Gra-…err, Professor Pine's lab."

Prof. Pine rolled her eyes, apparently loathe to being referred to formally, especially by her own family. She cleared her throat and prepared to pick up the story from where Riana had left off.

"As you've no doubt realised by now, the Pokémon that attacked Terbite City were not ordinary Pokémon." she explained. "Their official name is The Stained, but they're more commonly referred to and identified as Twilit Pokémon. Unlike regular Pokémon, Twilit Pokémon are feral and deadly, acting under the influence of an ancient curse."

Ethan sat down and had a drink of his orange juice as Riana continued. "However, not every Twilit Pokémon behaves this way. Your Cyndaquil, for example, is of The Stained, and yet it seems to resist the curse, more so now that you've caught it in a Purity Ball."

"Purity Ball?" Ethan pondered aloud. "That's what it's called?"

The Professor nodded. "Correct. They are Poké Balls that have been altered to capture only Twilit Pokémon, as well as to purify them of the curse."

Suddenly, Ethan's eyes widened as a thought occurred to him. "Wait, these cursed Pokémon…so they ARE real Pokémon?"

"Of course they're real Pokémon!" Riana exclaimed. "Could they do what they've done if they weren't real?"

"N-No, that's not what I mean!" Ethan stammered. "It's just…that Steelix, he blew up! I made Cyndaquil…I made him kill another Pokémon?!"

Riana glanced at her grandmother, who let out a heavy sigh. "…Ethan, you shouldn't feel guilt for that. True, there are means to capture and purify The Stained, but not every situation where one is encountered gives us such a chance. And besides, some might welcome death over life as a soulless monster."

Ethan looked down into his glass. "…I guess you might be right. But it makes me uneasy nonetheless."

Pine nodded. "I know. You look at it as going against the one thing we're told most about Pokémon: We should never take the life of one, or harm them beyond them beyond the ability to heal. However, don't think of it as murder, but rather as healing them of their pain."

Ethan looked back up, trying his best determined look. "…OK."

"At any rate, I have a question: The Purity Ball. Where'd you get it?" Pine enquired.

Ethan held out the Purity Ball. "Brother. He gave it to me just before he left on his Pokémon Journey."

Pine nodded, almost as if she wasn't surprised. "I see. If Marco was the original owner, then I can only guess that he had access to the Purity Symbol."

Ethan cocked an eyebrow. "Purity Symbol?"

The elder Pine glanced at Riana, who held her right hand out over the table, palm up. To Ethan's awe, as a few seconds passed by, a shimmering gold cross symbol seemed to materialize itself upon her palm.

"Holy crap!" Ethan exclaimed. "What the f-…HOW did you do that?!"

Riana grinned. "We don't know all of the details, only that a long time ago, when The Stained first appeared, a group of people learned how to tap into the sacred Purity Symbol. By placing the hand with the Symbol in it onto a Poké Ball, the symbol emblazons itself onto it, transforming the Ball into a Purity Ball. This power was passed on genetically, as now any descendant of the members of that group can now utilize the Purity Symbol."

"The Purity Symbol acts as both counterpart and opposite to the curse." the Professor picked up. "It has the power to repel, harness, detect, and purify The Stained. You seemed to have unconsciously learned how to make use of already existing Purity Balls, though I'm sure in time you'll learn to make your own."

Ethan folded his arms as Riana retracted her hand, the Symbol vanishing from her palm. "OK…but what that crazy chick I saw in Terbite? She seemed to control the Twilit Pokémon in the city."

"She's part of a yet-to-be identified group that's appeared in Rainya." Pine replied. "…You see, Ethan, there's an organization that patrols Rainya, known as the Rainya Intelligence Network. They've learned that a group from outside Rainya has been exposing their Pokémon to the curse, transfiguring them into Twilit Pokémon. They've begun an invasion of Rainya, and have already overtaken many cities, including Terbite City."

"Wait, so these guys are PURPOSELY cursing their own Pokémon?!" Ethan suddenly asked, sounding irate.

The Professor nodded sadly. "I'm afraid so. Even now, I'm sure they are creating more Twilit Pokémon to add to their forces."

The Professor and her granddaughter continued to elaborate, but Ethan wasn't listening. He felt his whole body heating up; He was outraged that someone would intentionally curse their own Pokémon. To abuse one's own Pokémon was sinful, but to damn them? That was unforgivable.

"…That's enough." Ethan uttered, standing up. "That's all I need to know. I've decided: I'm stopping these guys, whoever they are, and purifying the Twilit Pokémon!"

Riana scoffed. "No offence Ethan, but that's pretty tough talk from someone who hasn't even learned how to consciously control the Purity Symbol yet."

"Then I'll learn!" Ethan shot back. "But I refuse to sit around on my ass and do nothing while this bullshit goes on!"

Professor Pine grinned. "In that case, why doesn't Riana teach you how it's done?"

"ME?!" Riana demanded. "You're the Professor, why can't you?!"

Pine merely got up and headed down the hall. "I have to contact R.I.N. for an update on the situation. Then I have to do more research on The Stained, which I'm sure you two could find more of in the woods. Training, battling, that's a young person's job. Do me proud, Riana."

Riana could only groan as her grandmother passed out of her view. She looked back to the eager Ethan, then back down the hall, then straight down at the floor as she wondered how it was that she got into this mess…

* * *

**AT THIS JUNCTURE  
With Ethan Dolan and Riana Pine**

Ethan waved at all of the readers. "Hi everybody! From now on, we'll be giving little inside info at the end of each chapter!"

Riana nodded. "That's right. And today, we'll be looking at our Pokémon Of The Day...CYNDAQUIL!"

Suddenly, Cyndaquil popped up from behind Ethan, landing on his shoulder. Ethan laughed, petting the Fire Mouse.

"This little guy is a LOT stronger than he looks." Ethan exclaimed. "His Flame Whell brings down anybody, no matter how big or strong, and he can use an attack that no other Cyndaquil can use: Metronome!"

Riana put a finger to her chin. "So in that case, he literally has access to every attack in creation. Of course, he can't choose which one, so he can only hope that his luck holds true."

Cyndaquil nodded. Leaping off of Ethan's shoulders, he ran off to play somewhere as his Trainer looked over to Riana, looking quite serious.

"Oh, uhh...I'm sorry about the whole falling-on-you thing." he apologized. "I REALLY didn't mean to, it just happened."

Riana merely rolled her eyes. "Apology accepted. But if it happens again, I won't teach you to use the Purity Symbol in the next chapter."

"OK then!" Ethan exclaimed, turning back to face the readers. "Well, 'til the next one, this is At This Juncture!"

* * *

Notes From The Author: Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was significantly lighter than the action of the past two, but don't worry, the next one will have both the light humour and the Pokémon battling. Until then, please review!


	4. Ch 04: Seikouri! First Catch!

Notes From The Author: Hey-Yo! Once again, I thought I'd take a moment to thank all of the readers, particularly those that have reviewed. I encourage you all to review my story, and maybe even to give your imput.  
Oh, and don't forget to check my profile page, where you can see a picture of the Twilit Trio (Chikorita, Cyndaquil, and Totodile), as well as bios of the characters in the story, which I hope to update from time to time.

* * *

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon. Duh. I do, however, claim ownership over the main human protagonists, but not the antagonists.

WARNING: The following contains scenes of violence and coarse language. Reader discretion is advised.

Chapter 04: Seikouri! First Catch!

"I'm still trying to wrap my mind around why my brother did this." Ethan suddenly said out of nowhere.

Riana groaned. While the quick trek through the nearest regions of the Emerald Forest had been largely uneventful thus far, Ethan seemed intent on breaking the silence every few minutes with more musings as to how he got involved in this mess. It was getting so irritating that Riana was about ready to punt him in his manhood so hard that he could never father children.

"I mean, he MUST'VE known I'd eventually need the Purity Ball, right?" Ethan went on. "Otherwise, why bother leaving it in my care. But then why wouldn't he tell me about the Symbol and the Twilit Pokémon? Kinda handy info to know, y'know? It just bugs me so much. Does it bug you?"

"YOU bug me." Riana replied nonchalantly.

Ethan's eyes narrowed. "Well then, how 'bout we wrap up this little training session, so I can get outta your hair?"

"This isn't over until we've found a Twilit Pokémon." Riana answered as she looked down at her hand, the Purity Symbol glowing brightly in her palm. "And I'm certain there's one around here."

Ethan tilted his head in confusion until realisation hit him. "…Oh yeah! The Purity Symbol can detect Twilit Pokémon. But I thought it was a but more specific than 'around here'."

"Usually is." Riana explained, turning to face the red haired teen. "For some reason, I can't lock its location down. My only guess is that this Pokémon is a master of remaining unseen."

"Can't be seen, huh?" Ethan wondered aloud as Riana walked off again. "Maybe we can use one of our Pokémon to flush 'em out?"

Riana had barely made it two steps when she stopped and slapped her forehead. "Oh, of course! I know just the Pokémon."

Reaching into her yellow rucksack, Riana pulled out a Purity Ball and tossed it. A flash of light later, the Ball opened to summon…

"…CHIKORITA?!" Ethan demanded.

Riana grinned. "Yep. I caught her back when you were 'napping'."

Ethan cocked an eyebrow. "…Wait a minute. Why didn't you catch Totodile too?"

"I, uh…I didn't have enough Balls at the time." Riana stammered, feeling a little embarrassed. "Besides, I mostly specialize in Grass types. Anyways…Chikorita, use Sweet Scent to attract the hidden Pokémon."

Chikorita nodded. Raising her leaf, she let loose a pleasant aroma. Within a few moments, a greenish distortion appeared in the air around where the aroma spread, almost resembling a figure's outline.

"Of course, a Ghost type!" Ethan shouted, grabbing Cyndaquil's Ball immediately.

As if on cue, the distortion replaced itself with a Froslass. Unlike most Froslass, though, this one's white skin was now a pale green. Her blue claws were black, and the icy blocks jetting out of her head were now crimson. Her eyes glowed an intimidating gold, which made Chikorita back away a little.

"Froslass…" Riana uttered. "It may be Stained, but it's still an Ice/Ghost type. Your Cyndaquil should have the advantage."

"Yeah, but not every battle's determined by type." Ethan noted. "Froslass is fully evolved, so I might still need your help."

Riana nodded, and Ethan pulled out a Ball. "OK Cyndaquil, let's kick some glass!"

Cyndaquil burst forth from his Ball, flames ignited. The Twilit Froslass stared a hole through the small Fire type. Meanwhile, Riana walked over to Ethan, looking a bit confused.

"…'Let's kick some glass'?" Riana asked.

"Y'know, 'cuz of the stained glass." Ethan muttered as Riana fell over anime style. "…Anyways. Cyndaquil, use Flame Wheel!"

Cyndaquil rolled forward into a fiery ball, but Froslass merely folded her arms. At the last moment, a dozen more appeared, and Cyndaquil's Flame Wheel merely passed right through, making the target Froslass dissolve into thin air. As he landed, all of the Froslass charged him in a black and purple aura, knocking him into a tree.

"What?" Riana asked. "A Double Team/Faint Attack combo? Froslass shouldn't be able to use Faint Attack."

Ethan clenched his teeth. Man, I forgot. Twilit Pokémon can use attacks and abilities that their regular versions can't."

"Well that's not good!" Riana replied, sounding shocked. "If that's the case, then there's no way to be sure what attacks they might be able to use, or when!

Suddenly, an idea clicked in Ethan's mind. "…Riana, can you have Chikorita attack? I'm going to take out the illusions, and when I do, she can target the real Froslass."

Riana nodded. "Alright…"

Ethan nodded back. "OK then. Cyndaquil, jump over the Froslass!"

"Chikorita, get ready to charge!" Riana shouted.

Cyndaquil jumped up and bounced off the tree, spinning up and over Froslass and her illusions. Meanwhile, as Chikorita braced herself, her leaf straightened out with its edge facing forward and almost gleaming.

"Alright, a Leaf Blade." Riana said, grinning. "That'll work just fine."

Ethan threw a fist forward. "OK, now use Swift, Cyndaquil!"

_What?!_ Riana wondered. _Why Swift?! It's a Normal type attack; it'll pass right through!_

Cyndaquil spun faster in midair, sending a barrage of star shaped projectiles downward. But as they passed harmlessly through the Froslass, Riana was surprised to see Froslass' copies fade away, leaving only the real one.

"Riana, now!" Ethan yelled.

"Do it, Chikorita!" Riana ordered. "Leaf Blade!"

Before Froslass could react, Chikorita dashed forward, her leaf fully extended and glowing bright green. She slashed the leaf at Froslass as she ran up to her, knocking the Snow Land Pokémon backward.

F-F-FRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGG!!

The Froslass, apparently tired of this battle, reared her head back and roared. In her jaw, the blood-like ooze that other members of The Stained occasionally exhausted was flowing out of her teeth. Dancing beams of icy blue energy fluctuated dangerously in her mouth, making her tremble in power.

Riana's eyes widened in horror. "It's preparing a Sheer Cold! If that hits, we're dead!"

"Not if I can help it!" Ethan yelled, clenching his hands. "Cyndaquil!"

Suddenly, beams of golden light fired from Ethan's right hand. Opening his hand up, Ethan watched as the Purity Symbol burned into his palm. As the light shined on Cyndaquil, he suddenly regained his old ruby coating, his flames burning brighter than before.

"Huh?!" Ethan asked, baffled. "He's gone Twilit Pokémon again?!"

"The Purity Symbol can safely harness the curse's power!" Riana pointed out. "You can defeat Froslass now!"

Ethan nodded. Meanwhile, Cyndaquil began to glow a blue aura around his ruby body. A faint ticking sound vibrated against the trees and through the air. Eventually, the ticking started to fade away, and the aura surrounded Cyndaquil's head while turning a beautiful silver.

"GOOOOO!!" Ethan yelled.

SSHHHOOOOMMM!

The attacks were simultaneous as Froslass fired Sheer Cold, while Cyndaquil launched forward with Iron Head. Cyndaquil rammed straight through the icy blast, creating a huge explosion that caused Ethan and Riana to cover their eyes.

"Ah, Cyndaquil!" Ethan called out.

Moments passed, and the dust settled. Ethan lowered his hands, and was pleasantly surprised to see that Cyndaquil was standing triumphantly over the fallen Froslass. Cyndaquil's ruby colouring faded away, leaving him in his natural blue and yellow fur. With that, Ethan pulled an empty Poké Ball from his pouch.

"Good thing the Professor gave me plenty of empty Balls." he said. "Now, let's see if I remember how to do this…"

Ethan held out the Ball in his left hand. He held out his right hand with his palm open, the Purity Symbol glowing brightly upon it. Bringing his hands before him, he slapped the Ball's top, emblazoning it with the golden cross.

"Purity Symbol, set!" he yelled. "Purity Ball, go!"

He threw the Purity Ball hard, and it bounced off the Froslass' fallen body. The Symbol glowed brightly and the Ball opened, capturing the Ice/Ghost type in a bright red light. The Ball then bounced off the ground and into Ethan's hand, wobbling about quite a bit before finally going completely still.

"Booya!" Ethan exclaimed, holding the Ball up triumphantly. "We caught a Froslass!"

Riana rolled her eyes at Ethan's immaturity, but felt the need to congratulate him nonetheless. "Way to go, Ethan. You've caught 2 Pokémon in less than a week. Took me two to get a second."

"How many do you have, anyways?" Ethan asked as they recalled their Pokémon.

"Four in total." Riana answered. "My first Pokémon was an Oddish I found wandering around in the woods, and then there's the Snover back at the lab, but mostly just sleeps and helps out Gra-…err, the Professor."

Ethan nodded. "Wow, so you really do specialize in Grass types. So is your last one a Grass type, or-"

"Ethan, LOOK!" Riana suddenly exclaimed, pointing to the sky behind Ethan.

Ethan whipped around, and found himself standing in horrified awe of what he saw: In the sky beyond the trees in the distance was a rather large cloud of smoke, and the faint glimmer of fire.

"Oh no, Augite City's that way!" Riana shouted. "It must be under attack!"

Ethan was sure that Riana said more, but his brain just wasn't registering it at all. He just kept thinking back to the attack on Terbite, and the horrible things he'd seen. The horror of watching his city burn, the Twilit Electrike hunting down the townspeople, that cruel woman unleashing Hell upon his hometown…

"…No…NOT AGAIN!!" he yelled, running to the fire, ignoring Riana's pleas to stop, all the while now having but one thought run through his mind.

_Don't let it happen again…_

**

* * *

****AT THIS JUNCTURE  
With Professor Irene Pine**

Professor Pine waved at all of the readers. "Hello everyone! I'll be looking at the Pokémon Of The Day in place of Ethan and Riana. And today's Pokémon Of The Day is..."

Suddenly, Snover shuffled in front of the Professor, waved hello, and then took a nap. Pine sweatdropped at this, cleared her throat, and then carried on.

"...Um, as I was saying, the Pokémon of the Day is Snover." she explained. "While this Snover might be particularly lazy at times, he's really a big help around the lab, and is actually quite strong. However, he dislikes violence, and would often prefer to be at the lab."

Suddenly, Ethan ran past shouting "I've gotta stop it from happening again!!"

As he was long gone, Riana jogged by screaming "Will you hold up?! I swear, you're more trouble than you're worth, Ethan!"

The elder Pine watched on as her granddaughter and pupil ran off, before turning back to face the readers. "...Ummm, I suppose that will do for now. Until the next one, this is At This Juncture!"

* * *

Notes From The Author: Well, the action's starting to pick up a little bit again. And while I don't generally like to spoil my own stories, I will let you all in on a little secret: In the next chapter, the final two main protagonists will make their presence known. Hope you read it, and hope you review! Bye-Yo!


	5. Ch 05: Matatonai! No More Running!

Notes From The Author: Hey-Yo! As always, I'd take a moment to thank all of the readers, especially those that have reviewed. I encourage you all to review my story, give your imput, flame me to death, whatever. As a wise man once said, any press is good press.

* * *

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon. Duh. I do, however, claim ownership over the main human protagonists, but not the antagonists.

WARNING: The following contains scenes of violence and coarse language. Reader discretion is advised.

Chapter 05: Matatonai! No More Running!

In the darkened woods, not too far from the grand city of Augite, three figures were running as fast as they could from the raging inferno that had engulfed their hometown. They panted hard as they weaved around the half dead trees.

One was a 10 year old girl with chestnut hair, wearing a yellow and orange sleeveless shirt and brown skirt, and carrying a yellow rucksack. At her feet, running as fast as she could was a small Pikachu, sparks flying from her cheeks. Running alongside the duo was a young man in a white t-shirt, red shorts, and matching blue sneakers, bandana, and long apron. In his arms was a Totodile that seemed to be all blue.

"Lewis, slow down!" the girl cried. "Peachy and me are getting tir-AHH!"

The girl tripped over a log, falling into a small puddle. Her Pikachu, Peachy, tried to help her up, but stopped when she saw a pair of spinning red discs fly towards them. Lewis had stopped and turned to face them, but immediately knew he was too far away to help.

"Miley, LOOK OUT!!" he screamed.

Z-Z-ZAAAAPPP!!

Just before the discs could make contact with the poor girl's head, Peachy's Thundershock hit them, knocking one off course while the other fell to the ground, completely paralysed. The one still flying took off in a hurry, back the way it came.

Lewis sighed in relief, jogging over. "Way to go Peachy. If you hadn't seen 'em…"

Miley got up, wringing her skirt out. I'm sure you would've saved me, Brother."

"No, I was too far a-" Lewis started to say, until he looked down at the disc. "…What the hell?"

Lewis knelt down next to the 'disc', only to learn it wasn't a disc at all. It was an oddly coloured Staryu, its body blood red and its gem ebony black.

"Just like the Pokémon that attacked home." Miley said, her voice coming out shakily. "They were…like monsters."

Lewis held Totodile up to his face. "Totodile, do you know what's going on?"

Totodile nodded sadly, and Lewis looked him over sympathetically. "I don't mean to point fingers or put on pressure, but this is all just too crazy. First you show up at my door hurt, and then these guys attack my town. Are THEY the ones that hurt you?"

Totodile hesitated for a moment, looking back to the Staryu. He then nodded slowly. Miley petted his head softly as Peachy said words of encouragement to the Big Jaw Pokémon.

ZZIIIP! ZIIP!

The group looked up to see three more Staryu sailing through the trees. Lewis turned to run, but watched as two more circled around them. Fairly soon, the five Starfish Pokémon were circling them like sharks circle prey in the ocean.

"Dammit, we're trapped!" Lewis cursed. "They herded us to where the others were waiting."

Suddenly, Totodile wriggled out of Lewis' grasp and fired a Water Gun at one Staryu, only to fall over, apparently too sore and exhausted to fight. Peachy also tried to fight, shocking a couple of Staryu, but was then knocked back by a series of Rapid Spins from her opponents.

"Peachy and Totodile can't stop them!" Miley wailed. "Do something, Lewis!"

Lewis held Miley close. "Just stay close to me, sis. Everything's going to be OK."

The Staryu suddenly began to form one long line of spinning fans in midair. Together, they flew at the siblings, who could only shut their eyes and await the end.

WWHHHOOOOSSSHH!!

Lewis and Miley looked up as a huge icy blast made contact with the lead Staryu, knocking the others away. The lead Staryu rolled along the ground, now a red glass-like form, before suddenly imploding into tiny pieces. The two siblings turned their attention to the source of the Sheer Cold attack. Standing nearby was a boy near Lewis' age with scarlet red hair, and a fierce looking Froslass that stared holes into the remaining Staryu.

_What in the world?_ Lewis wondered. _What did he just DO?! Did he just DESTROY that Pokémon?!_

The red haired boy clenched his fists hard. "I'm through running from you guys! I won't let you hurt anyone EVER again!"

"Who IS this guy?" Lewis asked.

"I dunno…but he's REALLY cool!" Miley said, blushing. "What a hunk!"

"…Good grief, Miley." Lewis replied, sweatdropping at his sister's behaviour.

The stranger suddenly threw a strange Poké Ball with a golden cross on it. "Cyndaquil, let's kick some glass!"

In a flash, the odd Ball released a Cyndaquil, whose flame was burning wildly. He stood next to the Froslass, readying himself for combat. The Staryu looked to their opponents, then to each other, and then quickly flew away, not even taking time to pick up their paralysed comrade.

The red head's Pokémon fell over anime style as their Trainer blinked, shoulders slumped. "…Well, that was…kinda disappointing, actual-OOF!"

The boy was cut off when Miley ran up and hugged him tightly. "My hero! Thank you SOOOOOO much for saving my brother and me, AND our Pokémon too!"

The boy just blushed a little, eye twitching. "…Err, you're welcome?"

Miley grinned madly at him. "My name is Miley Foster! What's your name? Where are you from? What's your favourite Pokémon? Your e-mail address?"

"…Uhh, OK…" the boy said shakily. "Umm, Ethan Dolan, Terbite City, every kind of Fire type, and I don't really have an e-mail account yet?"

"ETHAN!!"

Everyone looked in the distance past the boy apparently named Ethan, where a young woman with blonde hair and pink streaks was running up to him. She finally reached him, panting hard, and pointed a shaking finger in his face.

"Next time…" she scolded between deep breaths. "…stay…with me! Do you…understand?"

Ethan nodded. "'Kay, but…if I'd stuck with you, I'd never make it. You don't run much, do you?"

"IT WAS A LONG WAY!" the girl shot back.

"…Riana, it wasn't even two kilometres." Ethan replied nonchalantly.

Lewis sighed loudly, picking up Totodile and then prying Miley from Ethan's torso. "OK! Look, I don't know who you two are-"

"The dreamy guy is Ethan, and the screaming girl is Riana." Miley replied with a frown. "Really Lewis, you need to listen."

Lewis slapped his forehead hard. "THANK YOU, Miley. Like I was saying, though, if you two could hold off your little lovers spat-"

Ethan and Riana both blushed deep red. "WHAT?! WE'RE NOT LOVERS!!"

Lewis rolled his eyes. "Riiiiiiight. Anyways, if you were done, would someone PLEASE explain to me what's going on?! Who were those people attacking Augite City, and what the hell is up with their Pokémon?!"

"They're called Twilit Pokémon." Riana explained. "Pokémon that have been overtaken by the Curse of the Stained."

Miley cringed, immediately out of her happy-go-lucky attitude. "C-C-Cursed Pokémon?"

Lewis looked a little sceptical. "That's hard to swallow…but I suppose it DOES explain their monstrous demeanour."

By this time, though, Ethan wasn't listening. Instead, he was watching as Cyndaquil was making conversation with the Totodile in Lewis' arms. Suddenly, a look of recognition flashed across Ethan's face as memory hit him like a ton of bricks.

"H-Hey, that Totodile!" he cried, pointing at the sapphire coloured Big Jaw Pokémon in Lewis' arms. "That's the same one that helped me out before! Where'd you find him?"

"He showed up at our house yesterday, pretty roughed up." Miley answered for Lewis, all too eager to talk to her scarlet haired saviour. "Brother's been nursing him back to health."

"Speaking of hurt Pokémon," Riana interjected, "Ethan, don't you think that you should maybe catch that Staryu that was left behind and take it to get healed up?"

Ethan's eyes widened, suddenly remembering the fallen, paralysed Staryu nearby. "Oh, right! Got'cha!"

Ethan held out his right hand and closed his eyes, seemingly going into a trance. Then, to Lewis and Miley's utter amazement, the same golden cross they'd seen on Cyndaquil's Poké Ball materialized in the palm of his hand. Taking out an empty Poké Ball, he slapped his hand onto it, emblazoning it with the odd symbol.

"Purity Symbol, set!" he yelled. "Purity Ball, go!"

Ethan then threw the Ball at the paralysed Staryu, the Symbol shining brightly. It pulled Staryu inside in a flash of red light, and then bounced back into Ethan's hand.

"Booya! Caught a Staryu!" Ethan cried.

Miley's jaw had nearly hit the ground. "Wow! That…that was SOOOOO cool! How'd you DO that?"

Ethan grinned, spinning the Ball on his finger. "Purity Ball. It's the only thing that can catch Twilit Pokémon. It also helps to purify them."

Lewis stepped forward. "If I could do that, I could help Totodile. Please teach me how!"

"Hold up, what about your town?" Ethan inquired. "Are you really going to abandon Augite City?"

Before Lewis could answer, Riana put a hand on Ethan's shoulder. "Ethan, these two are tired and probably scared witless, and our Pokémon need to rest up before they go retaking cities. In our current state, we wouldn't be of much help to Augite. The best thing we can do is return to the lab, heal up our Pokémon, and then plan out our next moves."

Ethan looked to Lewis and Miley. Yes, they were tired, but their Pokémon were both exhausted AND hurt. Ethan wanted badly to avenge what the Stained had done, but their safety had to come first. Besides, Riana was right. Retaking Augite City wouldn't be easy, and if they were going to stand any chance, they had to heal up and come up with a good counter-offensive.

"…OK," he muttered, "let's head back…for now…"

* * *

**AT THIS JUNCTURE  
With Ethan Dolan, Riana Pine, Lewis Schuyler, and Miley Foster**

The group stood by as Miley waved her arms excitedly at the readers. "Hi! Welcome to At This Juncture!"

Lewis held his forehead. "I CANNOT believe you people talked me into this."

Ethan rolled his eyes. "Today, we'll be looking at the Pokémon Of The Day. And today's Pokémon Of The Day is..."

Suddenly, Chikorita jumped up over the group and landed before then, doing a little bow. She then nuzzled up to Riana's leg.

"...Chikorita." Riana finished. "This particular one can use Leaf Blade, a move no other Chikorita can utilize. Also, her Sweet Scent is quite strong and alluring, forcing even the stealthy Froslass to reveal herself."

"Say, Chikorita was originally part of a trio with Cyndaquil and Totodile, right?" Lewis asked, a finger to his chin.

Ethan nodded. "Yep, and together they could use a weird chain-like attack! I wonder if we'll ever get to see it again?"

Miley shrugged "...Well anyways, next time we'll look at some of the new gear that's given to us, and a new Pokémon Of The Day. Until the next one..."

"...This is At This Juncture!" Everyone called, waving goodbye.

* * *

Notes From The Author: Well, I hope you all liked this chapter, and hope you like the next one too. As a sort of subnote, when it comes to the Purity Symbol appearing in their hands? Think of it like the Triforce appearing on Link's hand in Zelda, only it's a cross and it's in the palm. Hope that clears it up. Bye-Yo!


	6. Ch 06: Gattai! Grand Diamond Formed!

Notes From The Author: Hey-Yo! You might be getting tired of hearing me say this, but I just want to thank all of the readers, particularly those that have reviewed. I encourage all readers to review my story, give your imput, flame me to death, whatever.

* * *

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon. Duh. I do, however, claim ownership over the main human protagonists, but not the antagonists.

WARNING: The following contains scenes of violence and coarse language. Reader discretion is advised.

Chapter 06: Gattai! Grand Diamond Formed!

Riana relaxed in a recliner in her grandmother's living room. It had taken the remainder of the previous day to get back to Tugtup Town, but finally she could relax again. She looked out the window, watching with slight amusement as Ethan tried to show Lewis how to manifest the Purity Symbol. Riana had tried to explain to him that Lewis' family might not be one of the ones that could access the Symbol, but she wasn't sure Ethan had understood. Besides, Lewis was adamant in purifying Totodile.

Riana turned her attention to Miley, who sat with her elbows propped up onto the windowsill, watching the same scene as Riana had outside. Riana chuckled to herself, as she couldn't help but find it funny that the 10-year-old girl seemed more focused on Ethan than her older brother.

"Taken a real shining to Ethan, huh?" Riana asked.

This caught Miley off guard as she merely fell off the windowsill. "W-Well, he's just s-s-so cool and all!"

Riana rolled her eyes. "I see."

"…Well what about you?" Miley demanded. "You're the one taking romantic strolls in the woods with him."

Riana turned scarlet as Ethan's hair. "That wasn't a stroll! We were training! I'm his tutor, that's all!"

"Uh-huh." Miley said, sounding unconvinced. "…Speaking of training, how long do you think it should take Brother to learn to use that symbol-thingy?"

* * *

"Like I should know." Ethan said to Lewis outside. "I'm new to this too, remember?"

Lewis groaned. "It's just a little frustrating. You know that most Healer machines in Rainya require the Pokémon to be in Poké Balls. If I can't catch him in a Ball, I'll never get him into a Healer, and he'll never fully heal!"

"And you need a Purity Ball to catch him, I get that." Ethan replied. "…OK, grab your Ball and let's try it again."

Lewis nodded, holding out an empty Poké Ball in one hand, and holding his other hand out with his palm wide open. He closed his eyes and tried to focus.

"Now remember, visualise the Purity Symbol in the palm of your hand." Ethan coached. "Don't just think that it's there, KNOW it's there."

Lewis' eyes clenched down hard. Totodile, who was standing before him, let out cries of encouragement. After a few moments, Lewis let his eyes relax a little. A golden light began to shimmer in his hand, becoming a cross symbol.

"Yes, that's it!" Ethan cried. "Now, like I showed you, use the Purity Ball!"

"Purity Symbol, set!" Lewis yelled, slapping the symbol onto the Ball. "Purity Ball, go!"

Lewis threw the Ball as Totodile happily jumped to meet it. The Purity Symbol shined as the Purity Ball opened, sucking the small Water type in. The Ball dropped back into Lewis' hand, shaking a little bit before settling.

"…Alright, I finally caught Totodile." Lewis said, beaming happily.

Ethan crossed his arms. "Dude, put some more energy into it. It's your first catch, right? Show some emotion, man."

Lewis sweatdropped. "Err, that's not really my style. Anyways, we should go in and put Totodile in the Healer."

Ethan scratched his head as Lewis headed to the front door. "Say, since you can use the Purity Symbol, I think it stands to reason that your sister can do it too. Riana DID say something about the power being passed down through family."

Lewis stopped, looking downward. "Oh…Yeah, about that…Miley's not REALLY my sister, y'know."

"Eh?!" Ethan asked, dumbstruck. "How's that now?!"

* * *

"We were both orphans, raised in the Copper Town Orphanage." Miley explained to Riana, who had asked a similar question. "I was all alone there. Everyone liked to give me a hard time. And Lewis…he was the only one who watched out for me there."

Riana nodded, pouring herself a cup of hot chocolate. "And you were adopted together as siblings?"

Miley shook her head. "Nope. Lewis was going to be adopted by a family, but the family…they didn't want me, no matter how much I tried to get them to like me. Lewis even tried to convince them, but they wouldn't budge on their decision, even after he asked like a dozen times. We didn't wanna be separated."

"So how'd you end up in Augite City?" Riana asked.

* * *

"I'd heard about this famous Pokémon Breeder from Augite City." Lewis told Ethan outdoors. "I'd always been great with Pokémon, even as a kid, so I figured he might take me as an apprentice. So, I…well actually, I kind of 'kidnapped' Miley and snuck us both out of the orphanage."

Ethan tilted his head in confusion. "I dunno if I'd really call that kidnapping, bud."

"Well, that's what the local papers called it." Lewis remarked. "Anyways, we waited for the right chance to sneak aboard a cargo train headed in the right direction. They'd missed us because they thought I was planning to go to Terbite City. Someone had ratted us out, but failed to mention who I planned to apprentice under. They thought it was some Fire type Trainer from a famous family, or some crap like that."

"MARCO??" Ethan demanded, laughing out of shock. "Wow, if you'd done that, we would've been brothers. Small world, eh?"

Lewis chortled. "More of a weird world, if you ask me. Anyways, somehow everything worked out OK, and Mr. Schuyler-the Breeder-took us in. He was a pretty strict guy, but he had a good heart. I learned a lot about Pokémon from him."

"Sounds like a great guy." Ethan said. "So…uh, what happened?"

Lewis looked away sadly. "…About two years ago, we were checking on some eggs in the woods outside of town. They'd been abandoned, and Mr. Schuyler wanted to make sure they'd be OK. We were attacked by…I couldn't quite tell what kind of Pokémon it was that showed up, but it was big and nasty. It went for the eggs, but Mr. Schuyler…he wouldn't let any harm come to them, and…"

Ethan's face fell. "…I'm sorry."

"After that, a Trainer showed up to chase the Pokémon off, but it was too late." Lewis went on. "Right after that, Mr. Schuyler told me…told me to carry on his work. And that's why I took up the name Schuyler, in his memory."

"Wow." Ethan exclaimed. "I…I had no idea…"

"Ethan! Lewis!"

The two boys looked up to see Prof. Pine standing in the doorway leading in the house. "Come back inside! I've made some progress!"

* * *

Everyone was standing in Pine's main R&D room, where Ethan's Staryu was hooked up to a machine that was checking its vitals. After everything checked out, Pine unhooked the Starfish Pokémon, who chirped happily as it floated into Ethan's arms.

"So what have ya got, Professor?" Ethan asked.

Pine turned to face the group. "Well, I've concluded that your Pokémon are only partially purified. As you've no doubt witnessed, they can temporarily revert back to their cursed forms while in combat. For now, I've decided to call this form 'Fury Mode'."

Riana nodded. "It looks like they have better control of themselves when they go back to being Twilit Pokémon than they did before capture."

"Thanks to the Purity Symbol's harnessing ability." the elder Pine replied. "Also, it seems that the curse has a varying level of effectiveness depending on the subject's personality."

"So THAT'S why those three weren't acting all savage!" Ethan realised, pulling out Cyndaquil's Ball.

Pine smiled. "Yes. The Twilit Trio, as they're called, are able to resist the curse because they all possess something that most Pokémon do not: A true sense of justice."

Lewis propped up against a wall, thinking hard. "OK, so we've covered the effects this curse has on the mind, and I don't think we really need to mention their physical appearances, they speak for themselves. But what about the changes to their abilities in battle?"

Miley looked confused. "Brother, she already talked about Fury Mode."

Lewis shook his head. "I didn't mean Fury Mode, sis. I meant the other changes."

Ethan looked back to Lewis. "Noticed that too, huh?"

"Your Froslass knows Sheer Cold." Lewis replied. "Not by level-up, tutor, Technical Machine, or Egg Moves should Froslass be able to learn and use that move."

Ethan nodded. "Yeah, I noticed that right away. Cyndaquil knows Metronome, Chikorita can use Leaf Blade, Froslass learned Faint Attack and Sheer Cold, and that Steelix that tried to take a bite outta me knew Flamethrower."

"Their attacks aren't all that's affected." Prof. Pine interjected. "According to my research, all Pokémon that are Stained show signs of having acquired the Dark type."

"Huh?!" Miley exclaimed, more confused than ever. "But Froslass has two types, and she's a Twilit Pokémon!"

Pine sighed. "Correct, Miley. I went over my research data piece by piece, trying to understand it. Finally, I could only come to one conclusion: Ethan's Froslass is the first-ever Triple Type Pokémon to be recorded in history."

Lewis nearly fell over. "Three types?! That's impossible! No Pokémon has ever been known to have more than two!"

The Professor nodded to the young Breeder. "Under normal circumstances. But as I'm sure you've all realised, Twilit Pokémon are not like other Pokémon. These ones can."

Riana sat down, her eyes wide. "Triple Type Pokémon…No wonder they know different moves. Their potential movesets could be limitless. There's no way to be certain what they can or will do next. How can we stop them all?"

"No, Riana!" Ethan said firmly. "I told myself I wouldn't be scared of them anymore. I don't care how many types they have or what moves they know, I'm going to chase them all outta Augite City and retake whatever's left of it from their shattered hides!"

Lewis' eyes narrowed. _There it is again: that violent side that doesn't care if he has to destroy Pokémon to get the job done. But the scariest thing is…I don't know that he's wrong. I may not be much help in battles, but…_

Shaking his head, Lewis stepped forward. "I'll go with you, Ethan. Augite is my home, and I intend to take it back."

"It's my home, too." Miley added. "I might not know much about the Stained, or have any of the cool powers you guys do, but me and Peachy are pretty good in a fight. We can help."

Lewis sighed, ruffling Miley's hair. "Yeah, I suppose keeping you from following me around like a lost Growlithe would be futile, huh?"

"Brother!" Miley whined, batting Lewis away as he laughed in spite of himself.

This left Riana, who finally got up from her chair. "Well, I suppose that SOMEONE with good sense should watch you all. Ethan's far too immature to be the leader of this little counteroffensive."

Ethan grinned. "Right, 'cuz immature is MUCH worse than being ultra-uptight and stubborn. Y'know, like a certain blonde I know."

"Then that settles it!" the elder Pine spoke up. "From now on, the four of you will act as the four points of a diamond in your endeavours. A Grand Diamond that will cleanse Augite of this invasion. However, you might need some additional help…"

With that, Professor Pine pulled out a suitcase and placed it on a nearby table. Opening it, the group looked in awe at the four small red devices inside, each with a black strap on the back. Ethan grabbed one, attaching it to his wrist. The others soon followed suit.

"This is my specialized Aura Pokédex." Pine explained. "Each one contains all of the information I've gathered on the Stained."

The group flipped the lids of the Pokédexes open as Pine continued. "It has many additions, including an onboard comm. channel that connects to one another and back here."

Lewis pointed to a circular plug on the top. "And this is?"

Pine smiled. "A special plug for Balls containing a Pokémon. Try it out when you aren't busy, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."

Ethan grinned, flipping his 'Dex closed. "Thanks, Professor. OK then, tomorrow morning we move for Augite…"

* * *

**AT THIS JUNCTURE  
With Ethan Dolan, Riana Pine, Lewis Schuyler, and Miley Foster**

Ethan happily waved at the readers. "Hi, everybody! This is At This Juncture!"

"Today, we'll be looking at the Pokémon Of The Day, AND our new gear." Lewis added. "And today, the Pokémon Of The Day is..."

Suddenly, Riana turned on a large screen that showed footage of the Twilit Steelix chasing Ethan and causing mayhem. Miley cried out and hid behind Ethan, not wanting to look directly at the screen.

"...Um, Steelix." Riana said with hesitation. "This one was even more monsterous looking than the average Iron Snake Pokémon. It could also use a move no other Steelix could use: Flamethrower."

Ethan nodded, crossing his arms. "Yeah, he was a slithering disaster. If I hadn't have run into Cyndaquil and the others, I would've been that thing's lunch."

The footage concluded with Cyndaquil destroying the Twilit Steelix. The screen then turned off, and Riana wheeled it out.

"Wow, Ethan!" Miley cried, finally coming out from behind her scarlet haired hero. "That Steelix was a real monster! You were great to defeat it!"

"Err, let's not get carried away sis." Lewis muttered.

Riana came back with a tray that held the Aura Pokédex and Purity Balls. "At any rate, now for our gear, starting with the Aura Pokédex. Among its many features, there's a database full of information on the Stained, an onboard comm. channel, a clock, a Health Checker for our Pokémon, and an MP3 Player."

Ethan cocked an eyebrow. "...An MP3 Player? Why?"

Riana shrugged. "Well, Grandma-...err, the Professor's weird that way. Anyways, that's all for now. Until the next one..."

"...This is At This Juncture!" Everyone else yelled, waving goodbye.

* * *

Notes From The Author: Well, I hope you all liked this chapter, and hope you like the next one too. Hope this chapter cleared up a few things. Also, be sure to check the bios on my Profile for updates. Bye-Yo!


	7. Ch 07: Ikuze! Retake Augite City!

Notes From The Author: Hey-Yo! Thanks all of the readers, particularly those that have reviewed, and especially N.Harmonik. I encourage all other readers to review my story, give ideas, flame me all the way to You-Know-Where, whatever you want.

* * *

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon. Gee, no kidding? I do, however, claim ownership over the main human protagonists, but not the antagonists.

WARNING: The following contains scenes of violence and coarse language. Reader discretion is advised.

Chapter 07: Ikuze! Retake Augite City!

Ethan peeked around the tree he was currently hiding behind. From what he could see, much of Augite City was a mess. Many buildings were either caved in or covered with scorch marks. Twilit variations of Staryu and Shedinja hovered in the skies above town.

_Damn, that's a lot of Stained, and God knows how many Trainers._ Ethan surmised. _Guess this'll be a little trickier than I thought…_

Flipping open the Pokédex, Ethan pressed the communications button. "This is Alpha Wolf Leader calling Tango Foxtrotter. Come in, Tango Foxtrotter."

"I am fucking BEGGING you to stop calling me that!" Riana's voice called back.

"You might want to watch your mouth." Lewis said on the channel. "There IS a 10-year-old on the channel, you know."

"Yeah, you're setting a bad example for me." Miley added in a singsong tone.

Ethan rolled his eyes. "OK! Let's just get this started. Cyndaquil and I will draw the Shedinja's attention. Riana, Miley, the Staryu are all yours."

"Meanwhile, I'll make for the Pokémon Center." Lewis added. "I'll contact you guys once it's clear."

"OK then." Ethan replied. "Diamonds Are Forever, let's get into position."

"Seriously Ethan, cut it out NOW." Riana said sternly.

"Sorry…" Ethan apologized as he manoeuvred closer to the city. "It's just kinda hard to drop the codename bullshit when we're goin' all covert-counterstrike."

Peaking out from behind some bushes, Ethan spotted his target: A swarm of Shedinja hovering over a black armoured truck. On the side was large logo that consisted of a yellow G over a picture of the Milky Way.

"Anyone else see these guys' logo?" Ethan asked.

"The yellow G with the Milky Way?" Riana asked. "Yeah, I don't recognize it at all. I'll check with the Professor when this is over."

Ethan sighed. "Alright, I'll worry about I.D.ing these guys later. Wait for my signal to start your runs, OK?"

"What's the signal?" Miley asked.

"Uhh…I'm thinking Flamethrowers and a lot of yelling." Ethan said. "Ethan out."

Flipping his Pokédex shut, Ethan grabbed Cyndaquil's Purity Ball and held it at the ready. He squatted down next to a tree, waiting for just the right moment, when the Shedinja grouped together. After a few moments, he saw it and made his move.

"Flamethrower on Shedinja!" he yelled, chucking the Ball hard.

In a flash, Cyndaquil burst forth and launched a barrage of flames at the Shedinja, leaving only a few fragments of glass in its wake. The driver of the van saw this and pulled over hard and fast.

"Froslass, take out the driver!" Ethan ordered as he threw another Ball.

Froslass appeared and phased through the front of the truck, a tactic easily done for the Ghost type. After a moment, the driver's side door was flung open and the driver tumbled out. He had short green hair and wore a black and grey jumpsuit.

"Yo!" Ethan called over as the man got up. "Nice day for a good ol' ass kicking, don'cha think?!"

The man gritted his teeth. "You're DEAD when the Staryu get here, kid!"

Ethan pointed to the skies behind the man. As he looked, he watched as the Staryu were in fact on the move, but away from their current location. He clenched a fist as he turned to face Ethan again.

"Sorry, looks like they're busy." Ethan replied, rolling up a sleeve. "It's just you and me…"

* * *

Meanwhile, in another part of town, Riana and Miley were busy mowing down Staryu. Chikorita was slashing down the Starfish Pokémon with Leaf Blade, while being backed up by Peachy's Thundershock and Oddish's Bullet Seed. This tactic was making taking down the Water types down quite easy, as the opposition never got a single attack in.

"Think Ethan and Brother are doing OK?!" Miley called over to Riana.

"Lewis isn't supposed to be fighting all that much, if at all, so he should be fine!" Riana yelled back. "Ethan…well, knowing him, he's knee deep in trouble!"

Miley giggled at that. Meanwhile, Oddish had Bullet Seeded the last Staryu into retreat, almost knocking over an enemy Trainer that was standing nearby, overlooking the battle. An ordinary Taillow was standing at his feet, looking rather terrified.

"Grrr, c'mon Taillow! Get in there! FIGHT!" the Trainer ordered, but Taillow barely budged.

Riana scoffed. "Wow, what a great Trainer you are. Maybe we should call this off?"

"You won't be laughing when I turn this little weakling into a Twilit Pokémon!" he growled, inciting a horrified look from Taillow. "Then he'll obliterate you!"

"You horrible man!" Miley shrieked. "You won't touch that Pokémon! PEACHY!!"

The Trainer turned, but not quick enough to stop the Pikachu, who had snuck up behind him. She then proceeded to shock him into unconsciousness, sending him tumbling next to the poor Taillow. The small Flying type was still scared out of his mind, until Peachy landed gracefully and gave him a friendly peace sign.

"Nice job, Peachy!" Miley said, running over.

The Taillow suddenly flew up and landed on Miley's shoulder, nuzzling her in thanks. "Umm…I guess you're welcome, Taillow. Did that guy hurt you?"

Taillow lifted his wing, showing a small whelp on his side. "Oh, you poor thing! Don't worry, he won't hurt you anymore. Say, how about coming with me? I promise to take care of you."

Taillow cried out happily. Miley took that as a yes and pulled out an empty Poké Ball. Tapping it lightly against Taillow's beak, it opened up and drew Taillow inside, laying still with no resistance whatsoever.

"Yay, I caught a Taillow!" Miley cheered.

"Good job, Miley." Riana said as she walked over. "But we should wait until Lewis has retaken the Center and Taillow's wound is healed before using him at all."

* * *

At that exact moment, Lewis was sneaking through the halls of the enemy-occupied Pokémon Center. Leaning near a door, he looked in to see two people talking. One was a woman in a black and grey jumpsuit with purple hair, and the other was an odd figure in a large blue and red jacket with a hood that completely covered his face. They were both looking at a series of screens showing the action in the city.

"That boy!" the man in the jacket exclaimed. "He's the same one from Terbite! The one YOU let get away!"

The woman sighed. "It's hardly my fault that Steelix couldn't catch some little morsel man."

The man was all the more irritated. "Jupiter, that 'little morsel man' is a Dolan! If the Superior finds out-"

"He won't." the woman named Jupiter interjected. "I plan to deal with Mr. Dolan myself, and when I'm through with him…"

"I get the idea, Jupiter." the man said. "Just never tell me what it is you do to him…"

The two Trainers walked out. Slipping inside, Lewis found that there were cages full of various Pokémon, including groups of Poochyena, Rattata, Hoothoot, and Burmy. Pressing a button nearby the cages, Lewis made the cage doors drop open. The Pokémon scuffled out as Lewis grinned to them.

"Hey guys, feel like a little payback?" he asked as they smiled back to him.

* * *

"Oddish, Mega Drain!" Riana ordered.

Oddish released a green energy beam that wrapped around a Staryu, draining its strength completely. The Water type sentries had decided to return, but this time with a group of Twilit Starmie, their evolved form. The now orange and black Water/Psychic Pokémon were much more troublesome than their pre-evolved counterparts.

"Peachy can't last too much longer!" Miley yelled as her Pikachu showed signs of fatigue.

"This is Lewis!" Lewis' voice suddenly called out on the Aura Pokédex. "The Pokémon Center has been liberated, and I've sent the captured Pokémon out to help deal with the Stained! You can all head over anytime!"

"Good to hear, Lewis!" Riana replied into the comm. channel. "Ethan, how are things going on end?"

* * *

"HAAH!" Ethan yelled, kicking his opponent into a pothole.

Things had gotten rather hectic on Ethan's side of things. A few dozen Shedinja had come to back up the enemy Trainer and his Magcargo. While Froslass, Cyndaquil, and Staryu dealt with the other Pokémon, Ethan thought it'd be a good idea to get into a melee with the Trainer.

Wiping a trail of blood from his lip, Ethan flipped open his Pokédex. "Area clear. I'm headin' over."

Ethan sighed as he shut his 'Dex. He knew the Center was a pretty fair distance away, and he was already tired from the fight, as were his Pokémon. Looking over at the armoured van, he grinned as another 'good idea' entered his mind.

* * *

Riana slapped her forehead as they gathered in the Center lobby. "…Ethan, you're a terrible driver."

"I-I didn't think it'd be that hard." Ethan admitted, scratching his head. "And I think I did OK, considering."

Riana sighed. "Ethan, how many mailboxes did you hit?"

Ethan hung his head. "…Thirteen."

"And?" Riana asked.

"And a couple of poles."

"And what did you almost drive through?"

"The glass doors of the Center." At this, Miley couldn't help but giggle at how red Ethan's face was getting.

"You're never driving without a licence again, understand?"

"…Yes."

"Yes WHAT?"

Ethan sighed hard. "…Yes, ma'am."

Lewis held his hands up. "ANYWAYS, if we're done scolding Ethan, you should know that the Pokémon I freed are working to clear out the rest of the bad guys."

"I should send Ace out to check out how it's going" Miley suggested.

Lewis cocked an eyebrow. "Ace?"

Miley nodded. "Yep, my new Taillow. I decided to call him Ace."

"Miley, you still haven't healed that wound of his." Riana pointed out. "If he ran into trouble, he could get hurt worse."

"Oops, I totally forgot!" Miley cried. "I'll be right back!"

Miley ran down the hall to where the Healers were kept, practically in a flash. Ethan, feeling embarrassed for his young friend, held a hand tightly to his forehead and groaned loudly.

"Still a beginner, I see." he uttered.

"…Uh, Ethan?" Lewis asked. "Did YOU remember to heal up YOUR Pokémon?"

"Oh, SHIT!" Ethan cursed before dashing down the hall after Miley.

Riana sweatdropped. "…That guy. Totally in control and mature one minute, then like a big, irresponsible kid the next."

Lewis grinned, walking away. "Yeah, but which Ethan is it that you like more?"

Riana blushed hard. "WHO SAYS I LIKE EITHER ONE?!"

* * *

Meanwhile, just outside the Center, a lone figure with dark violet hair and a skintight black and grey jumpsuit strode up out front. She grinned, pulling out a stained glass-looking Poké Ball.

"All right, Mr. Dolan." she said. "Let's see how you taste…"

* * *

**AT THIS JUNCTURE  
With Ethan Dolan, Riana Pine, Lewis Schuyler, and Miley Foster**

Riana waved to all of the readers. "Hello, everyone! This is At This Juncture!"

"OK, let's go straight to the Pokémon Of The Day!" Ethan exclaimed. "And today it is..."

Suddenly, Peachy ran in front of the gang and bowed. She then hopped into Miley's arms, nuzzling her lovingly.

"...Peachy!" Lewis finished. "Peachy is a female Pikachu, and Miley's first Pokémon. She isn't cursed, unlike every other Pokémon Of The Day, but she possesses a huge amount of powerful electricity."

Ethan nodded. "Yeah. So Miley, have you had Peachy for a long time?"

"Mr. Schuyler hatched her from an egg." Miley explained. "He let me help take care of her, and when she evoled from Pichu, he gave her to me as my first Pokémon."

Riana reached over and petted Peachy. "So, does she know a lot of attacks yet?"

"Well, not A LOT." Miley replied. "Besides, right now she's just doing her job of being tough yet cute!"

At this, Peachy started to get embarressed. Without thinking, she let loose some sparks and accidentally shocked everyone but Lewis, sending them falling to the ground.

"Yyyyeah, that's why I wear rubber gloves around her." Lewis muttered as he pulled his gloves off. "...Anyways, until the next one, this is At This Juncture!"

* * *

Notes From The Author: Well, hope y'all liked this chapter. Oh, and just so you know, the next one will shed some light on a mystery revolving a piece of their gear, as well as the identities of the evil Trainers. Hope you all check it out! Bye-Yo!


	8. Ch 08: Shinka! The Action Heats Up!

Notes From The Author: Sorry for the late update! As always, though, a big thanks to all of the readers, particularly those that have reviewed. I encourage all other readers to review my story. With that, here is the next chapter!

* * *

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon. No duh. I do, however, claim ownership over the main human protagonists, but not the antagonists.

WARNING: The following contains scenes of violence, coarse language, and sexual themes. Reader discretion is advised.

Chapter 08: Shinka! The Action Heats Up!

"Say, here's a question: How come you and Riana wear the same kinda clothes?" Miley asked, desperate for conversation with Ethan. "I mean you either look like siblings or a really weird couple."

Ethan sighed, waiting desperately for the Healer to finish revitalizing his and Miley's Pokémon. "I don't know, maybe she bought 'em from the same place my brother did?"

Miley tilted her head. "Wait, so your clothes are hand-me-downs?"

Ethan groaned. "Yes, OK? My brother had a lot of the same clothes, and would pass them down to me when he outgrew them."

"Ohhh." Miley said. "So, where is your brother now?"

Ethan looked away. "Dunno. He's a travelling Pokémon Trainer, y'know? He hardly ever writes…in fact, he hasn't written or even sent his outgrown clothes at all in the past couple of years."

Miley nodded and looked away, apparently satisfied. Ethan shook his head and looked down to the Poké Balls in the Healer. Feeling bored and not seeing anything to do now, he suddenly remembered something that Prof. Pine had told him before leaving.

* * *

_Professor Pine pulled out a suitcase and placed it on a nearby table. Opening it, the group looked in awe at the four small red devices inside, each with a black strap on the back. Ethan grabbed one, attaching it to his wrist. The others soon followed suit._

"_This is my specialized Aura Pokédex." Pine explained. "Each one contains all of the information I've gathered on the Stained."_

_The group flipped the lids of the Pokédexes open as Pine continued. "It has many additions, including an onboard comm. channel that connects to one another and back here."_

_Lewis pointed to a circular plug on the top. "And this is?"_

_Pine smiled. "A special plug for Balls containing a Pokémon. Try it out when you aren't busy, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."_

* * *

Ethan flipped open the Pokédex, eying the circular plug carefully. Pine had told them it was for Balls with Pokémon inside, but hadn't told them what it did, thus peaking his curiosity quite a bit.

DING! DING! DEE-DOO-DIIING!

"Healer's done!" Miley said cheerfully.

"Sweet." Ethan replied, grabbing his Balls from the machine. "…Y'know, Prof. Pine DID say to try this plug out when we weren't busy."

Miley put a finger to her chin. "I've been kinda wondering about that, too. Try it out, Ethan!"

Ethan nodded, placing Cyndaquil's Ball in the plug. The Ball then rotated around in the plug, its button facing straight up and outward. A green beam then emitted from the button, and from it appeared a cell shaded chibi-like hologram of Cyndaquil, who yawned before looking happily at Ethan.

"Aww, how cute!" Miley started to say, before being cut off by…

"Hey-Yo, Aibou! What's up?"

Ethan's jaw hung open at what he'd just seen and heard. "W-Wait, what did you just…SAY?"

Cyndaquil rolled his eyes. "I sa-…Nani?! I'm talkin' like a human!"

Miley looked the hologram over. "Ooooh, I get it! It makes a hologram of the Pokémon so that they can talk to us! That's so cool!"

"Oh, I see!" Ethan said, snapping his fingers. "Then you're not really talking, the Pokédex is reading what you're thinking of saying and having the hologram speak it so we can understand…except the Japanese, anyways."

"You don't know Japanese?" Cyndaquil muttered. "Maitaze! That's like my favourite human language! It sounds so cool!"

"Uhh, OK." Ethan said, sweatdropping. "But if you cut down on it a little, we-"

SMMAAAAAASSSSHHH!

Ethan immediately lost his train of thought as a tremendously loud smashing of glass echoed through the entire Center. Without thinking twice, Ethan ran down the hall, followed quickly by Miley, and of course Cyndaquil's hologram, which remained floating over the Pokédex regardless of where it went. The group soon found the front doors to the Center, and a large part of the wall they occupied, blasted down. Riana and Lewis were both on the floor, Lewis sporting a bloody cut across his cheek.

"Brother!" Miley cried.

"Riana!" Ethan shouted, at her side almost instantly. "You OK?"

Riana sat up, shaking the dust from her hair. "Yeah, just a little stunned…Lewis?"

Lewis got up, albeit shakily. "I'm OK."

"Uhh, Aibou?" Cyndaquil interjected. "I think we got company!"

Ethan looked outside, past the damage. Standing before the Pokémon Center was a very familiar woman in a skintight black and grey jumpsuit. Her violet hair was in a bun that made her head resemble a Medicham's in an odd way.

"YOU!" Ethan yelled. "You're that crazy chick that led the attack on Terbite City!"

The woman grinned evilly. "I'm sorry, but 'Crazy Chick' will not suffice. My slaves call me Lady Jupiter, a Commander of Team Galactic."

"Team Galactic, huh?" Lewis pondered aloud. "So that's the name of your little organization."

Jupiter put a hand to hip. "A curious one, aren't you? Yes, we are an organization of sorts."

Ethan clenched a fist. "What do you people want?"

Jupiter looked back to Ethan, looking him over in a way that made him very uncomfortable. "Well, as a whole, we want what our Superior wants: To reshape the world as he sees fit, starting with this pathetic region. But right now, I'm here for a more specific target that I've picked out for myself: You."

Ethan took a step back, now far more nervous than angered. "Why me?"

"Why?" Jupiter asked. "Because you're a member of the Dolan family. Your family is known for being energetic and powerful as people and Trainers, and…you're believed to be GREAT at breeding."

Miley tilted her head. "You want Ethan to breed your Pokémon for you?"

Jupiter let out a small chuckle. "Different kind of BREEDING, little one."

It was at this point that the entire group suffered from one giant collective bushing, except for Miley who still didn't understand what Jupiter was talking about. Before anyone could make any other action, Riana dashed in front of Ethan, a Poké Ball clenched in her hand.

"You'll have to go through ME first, bitch!" she yelled, surprising Ethan at just how mad she was.

"I don't generally swing that way," Jupiter replied, licking her lips, "but I suppose I could make an exception for a sweet little miss like you."

Riana turned slightly green. "Oh, you're SICK!"

"Wait, so does she want Riana to breed her Pokémon?" Miley asked Lewis, again failing to understand.

Lewis put a hand on Miley's shoulder. "Uhh, I'll explain it to you later…"

Holding out two stained glass Poké Balls, Jupiter threw them forward. "Seviper, Meditite, nibble on their flesh."

"Chikorita, front and centre!" Riana yelled, tossing her Ball.

"Cyndaquil, let's kick some glass!" Ethan ordered while swinging his arm, sending the Ball flying forward.

In a brilliant burst of light, all four Pokémon were out. On one side were Cyndaquil and Chikorita, while facing them were a Stained duo, consisting of a Seviper and a Meditite. The Seviper was mostly ebony black, with his usually yellow patches now a dull grey, and his violet stripes now crimson. The Meditite was completely grey all over, albeit various shades of it. Both Twilit Pokémon looked to be tough as nails.

Jupiter grinned, licking the edges of her teeth. "This will prove exhilarating. Seviper, Acid! Meditite, Focus Punch!"

"Cyndaquil, Flamethrower!" Ethan called.

"Use Protect!" Riana commanded Chikorita.

Seviper and Cyndaquil both launched bursts of fire and poison, which cancelled each other out in mid-air. Meditite charged past the attacks and went for a huge punch on Chikorita, but was knocked back by an emerald green force field that surrounded the Leaf Pokémon. Meanwhile, the Twilit snake had managed to wrap itself around Cyndaquil.

"He's got Cyndaquil!" Riana yelled.

"Yeah right." Ethan scoffed. "Flame Wheel!"

Suddenly, Cyndaquil rolled into a ball, his flames surrounding him. The blaze spun hard and hot, burning Seviper badly and causing him to drop the Fire Mouse Pokémon. Where there should've been scorch marks on Seviper's body, there were panels of stained glass.

"Seviper, I DON'T tolerate weakness!" Jupiter barked. "Water Pulse!"

Seviper reared his head back and launched a blast of watery energy at Cyndaquil, knocking him back. However, despite being hit with his greatest weakness, Cyndaquil was clearly less hurt than Seviper, who bared a look of pain on his face.

"Hey, why are you making him keep fighting?" Ethan demanded. "Switch him out!"

"I fight until one side no longer can!" Jupiter yelled back. "Meditite, Mach Punch!"

Like a zipping black light, Meditite rushed up and punched Chikorita hard. It then bounced to Cyndaquil, levelling him with another punch. Both Pokémon rolled across the ground, with Cyndaquil staying down, but Chikorita finding herself back to her feet quickly, albeit with some difficulty.

"Chikorita, we need more power!" Riana called, clenching his fist. "Go to Fury Mode!"

Chikorita stood strong as a stream of light flew from Riana's fist, impacting the small Grass type with a burst of energy. Chikorita's entire body then coated itself with a glassy emerald coating, and she seemed to be brimming with power and untainted confidence.

"Whoa, what a power-up!" Miley exclaimed.

Riana grinned. "OK, now use Razor Leaf, full power!"

Spinning her leaf hard, Chikorita sent a flurry of razor sharp leaves at Meditite and Seviper. They had no time to dodge, as they were slashed hard and fast. Seviper tumbled over hard.

Jupiter clenched her teeth hard. "Seviper, get up! Use Poison Tail!"

Seviper tried to get up, but failed, further infuriating his master. "Grrr, blasted weak thing! Meditite, grab Seviper and make it use Poison Tail!"

Ethan was shocked. "Enough! Leave it alone!"

Meditite, who seemed all too eager to obey its master, grabbed Seviper and swung him hard, sending his sharp tail slashing across Chikorita's face and knocking her away. If anything, being used as a mace made Seviper appear to be in even greater pain than before.

"This is getting dangerous!" Lewis yelled, horrified. "If this keeps up, that Seviper will die attacking! Ethan, you've got to do something!"

But Ethan couldn't hear him. His head felt like a top, spinning completely out of control. He could only think or say one thing, and could hardly keep himself from saying it.

"How could you…?" he uttered, looking hatefully at Jupiter and her Meditite.

Suddenly, the Purity Symbol burned in Ethan's hand. Instead of a brilliant golden light, however, a scarlet red flaming aura radiated from him and poured into the fallen Cyndaquil's flame pouch. The flames on his back then burst outward as the Fire Mouse Pokémon suddenly got to his feet, his whole body filled with power.

"Jupiter!" Ethan yelled. "You're going down!!"

SHHEEEWW!

Everyone looked forward as Cyndaquil was completely engulfed by light. He cried out as another surge of power rushed through him, and his body began to change and expand.

Miley was astonished. "Is he…evolving?!"

After a few moments, the light dissipated. Where little Cyndaquil had once stood, a larger variation of the Fire type was now standing. In addition to the red fire pouch on his back, and additional one now bared itself on top of his head.

Ethan stood in awe. "Cyndaquil evolved into…Quilava!"

Jupiter scowled. "Do you think that overgrown weasel scares me? Meditite!"

Meditite grabbed Seviper again, preparing another swing. Seviper cried out in pain. Ethan snapped back to attention, taking a step forward.

"Not this time!" Ethan yelled. "Quilava, Flame Wheel!"

Quilava nodded, rolling into a flaming ball and charging Meditite at amazing speed. Meditite tried to hold up Seviper as a shield, but the Volcano Pokémon was able to alter his course at the last minute, going under Seviper and blasting Meditite hard. Seviper was released and rolled along the ground, out cold but alive.

"Dammit!" Jupiter cursed. "Meditite, Force Palm!"

"Quilava, Metronome!" Ethan ordered.

Quilava glowed blue as a ticking sounded throughout the area. As Meditite sent out a large hand-shaped shockwave, the ticking stopped and Quilava charged forward, glowing yellow and orange lights surrounding him. Despite the risk of damage, the evolved Fire type effortlessly rammed through the Force Palm, going straight through to where Meditite stood.

"Final strike!" Ethan called. "Giga Impact!"

Meditite launched additional Force Palms, but Quilava pounded through them all as, underneath the yellow and orange lights, a violet cocoon of energy formed around the Volcano Pokémon. Quilava jumped up and dove straight for Meditite. The Meditate Pokémon tried to Focus Punch Quilava, but it ricocheted off the energy field as Quilava smashed past Meditite, turning him completely to stained glass and taking a huge hunk out of his side. Landing behind the now incomplete Meditite, Quilava's energy fields vanished as Meditite shattered to pieces. The Poké Ball in Jupiter's hand also shattered, leaving her hand bloody.

"I didn't wanna do that," Ethan called over, "but you left me no choice!"

Jupiter didn't respond, and merely looked down at her bleeding hand. Despite her loss, she grinned. Raising her hand to her lips, she looked to Ethan and smiled seductively as she licked the blood from her hand, which pretty much made the group want to hurl.

"Mmmmmm, I'm going to have such fun taming you, Ethan Dolan." Jupiter moaned.

Turning to leave, Jupiter looked out of the corner of her eye to see Lewis tending to her fallen Seviper. Letting loose an evil smirk, she dropped the Fang Snake's Ball and stomped her boot down onto it, breaking it into pieces.

"Oh, and you can do as you please with that weakling, I could care less." she called over to Lewis with little to no emotion.

This only served to piss everyone off, particularly Lewis, who gritted his teeth hard. "Why you-!!"

BAAAMM!

Everyone covered their eyes as Jupiter suddenly threw down a flash bomb she'd had concealed. Eventually, the flash of light dimmed down, and everyone looked forward to see that Jupiter had disappeared.

"Aww, c'mon!" Ethan groaned, turning to face the others. "She has freaking flash bombs?!"

"Um, Ethan?" Miley said, blushing a little. "You MIGHT wanna look at your face."

Ethan cocked an eyebrow. Flipping open his Pokédex, he looked at his reflection in the screen. On his cheek was a smear of lipstick, where he'd apparently been kissed during the flash without noticing.

Ethan sighed, shutting the 'Dex. "…OK, that psycho's gonna have to die."

* * *

**AT THIS JUNCTURE  
With Ethan Dolan, Riana Pine, Lewis Schuyler, and Miley Foster**

Miley waved to all of the readers. "Hi, readers! This is At This Juncture! Today, we look at the 'hottest' Pokémon on the team, and some more or ours and our enemies' gear!"

"Let's start with the Pokémon Of The Day!" Ethan exclaimed. "And today it is..."

Suddenly, Riana turned on her large screen, showing off clips of Cyndaquil's evolution and subsequent battle. It finishes with Quilava's Giga Impact.

"...Quilava!" Riana picked up. "So far, Quilava has demonstrated much higher speed than Cyndaquil, and can pull of surprising aerodynamics for such a grounded Pokémon."

Ethan nodded. "Yep! The Fire Mouse is stronger than ever!"

"Actually, Quilava is classified as the Volcano Pokémon." Lewis pointed out. "And it's more of a weasel than a mouse now."

Suddenly, Quilava's hologram appeared on the screen, screaming "Oushikuso! I'm NOT a weasel!"

Riana sweatdropped. "Uhh, anyways! Also, here's a look at the new Poké Balls we've been seeing up until now!"

The screen switched to show holographic images of the Ball with the Purity Symbol on top, and the stained glass Ball. The two Balls rotated all around on the screen.

"This one on the left's called the Purity Ball!" Miley explained. "It's pretty much a regular Poké Ball with the Purity Symbol set on top. It's the only thing that can catch and purify a Pokémon."

Lewis nodded. "Then there's the Stained Ball. It seems to be a regular Poké Ball that's been exposed to the curse of the Stained. The Pokémon that's inside then becomes a Twilit Pokémon. If the Pokémon is shattered, so is the Stained Ball. On the other hand, though, if the Ball is damaged or destroyed, the Twilit Pokémon is released to possibly be caught and purified."

Riana nodded. "But there's just one last mystery left to this episode...What on Earth was that flame that helped Cyndaquil evolve into Quilava?"

Everyone looked to Ethan, who shrugged nervously. "How should I know? Maybe we'll learn more later."

Miley shrugged. "Okeydokey. Well, until the next one, this is At This Juncture! Bye-bye!"

* * *

Notes From The Author: Well, hope y'all liked this chapter. As a tiny spoiler for the next chapter, you can know that a couple more changes to the gang's teams will be made, and Prof. Pine drops a bombshell on the team. Hope y'all check it out! Bye-Yo!


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